2017 has been a challenging year for the machine manufacturer in Courtedoux After a difficult first quarter where the company could not escape unemployment and a few redundancies, the situation was completely reversed over the last nine months with the hiring of seventeen additional employees.
CEO Christophe Rérat admits that he has never seen such an inflow of orders. This year therefore promises to be excellent and already influences the 2019 production specifications in a positive way. Three vacancies are to be filled soon, in addition to the more than 80 already existing. The Bula brand, in particular, will have to ensure in the next two years, to use Christophe Rérat’s words. The Swiss made has completely redistributed the cards and many operations have been repatriated to Switzerland. Obviously, some operations have gone the opposite way and are now carried out in countries where the workforce is more advantageous. But at the end, the scale tilts towards Switzerland and the Swiss made has increased, which is great news.
This serene climate is favourable to the improvements of the production tool. The area dedicated to machining and storage will thus be expanded during the year and the old premises will be renovated to achieve maximum energy efficiency. The replacement of all current windows with triple glass models, the installation of suitable insulation and the use of an "active cooling" system will enable buildings to exceed current standards. The company also acquired land in the immediate vicinity of the current site to erect two new buildings for production, storage and administration. Once the land use change has been accepted, construction work will begin, in principle this year.
New business strategy However, the marked upturn in the watchmaking sector over the past few months has not prompted the group’s management to bet everything on this sector. A sales representative has just been hired for German-speaking Switzerland and Europe to work in the fields of medicine, aeronautics and musical instruments, in particular. The first sales are planned this year for these three high value-added sectors. Still at the strategic level, the company is now content to participate at two trade fairs per year (EPHJ Geneva and Mecspe Parme) and increasingly relies on its showroom which it considers as the best investment in recent years. The system’s flexibility allows it to respond quickly to requests and to welcome a large number of customers and potential customers.
New in 2018 Several new products or new functionalities on existing machines are announced for this year, for both brands of the group.
At Réco... Sold over 100 copies, the CT500 termination center has undergone a total overhaul. The new generation, the CT501, has benefited from all the constructive comments made by customers and offers remarkable performances for the realization of all the terminations required by watch brands. Powerful, precise, fast and offering a wider choice of tools, it is capable of processing all materials used in watchmaking, whether steel, titanium, ceramic, carbide, sapphire, gold or platinum.
The 5-axis CNC machine MS310 equipped with two grinding belts up to three metres in length differs from its predecessor MS300 by the addition of an additional axis for tilting the workpiece facing the belt. Compact, this machine has excellent performance in longitudinal satin finish.
The BU200 is a versatile manual machine with a Schaublin W20 nose. Intended among other things for satin-finishing, stoning and polishing operations, it offers the possibility of fixing tools of other brands. Powerful and quiet, it also received special attention to ergonomics with a simple and user-friendly touch screen and an automatic program change by pressing the foot on a pedal.
Single 5-axis grinding machine, the MR430 will replace the MM3-PCII, the last in the range not to be equipped with a Fanuc control. The introduction of a new CNC will increase the accuracy and hte movement speed of all axes. This machine will be equipped with a triple spindle for fixing three discs or flat wheels. The workpiece spindle will be in direct drive mode allowing dynamic spindle or axis rotation.
With the exception of the MR430, the first copies of which will be released at the end of 2018, all the new Reco models will be presented in June at the EPHJ.
... and at Bula’s house The microP will now be equipped with a new combined paste dispenser (1x diameter 60 and 1x diameter 40) to allow roughing and finishing in one pass. The machine will also be managed via a new touch interface.
The Poligo series for its part is equipped with a new generation of Fanuc 30/31i CNC. The creation of work paths can be programmed in offline mode using an internally developed graphical wizard. Some parameters can be changed either offline or live on the machine without having to reprogram everything. The series is also equipped with a controlled dough dispenser with an automatic dough guide tube management function and a brushing unit with a new motorization for rotation speeds up to 5000 rpm.
The Poligo B3 changes to B3-D (D for double). This indexable tabletop machine is now available with a double workpiece spindle. Cycle time savings, doubling of cycle times and compatibility with automatic loading are among the advantages of this novelty.
The latest Bula innovation, the MP304 will be presented in preview at the next Mecspe show in Parma. This machine can work pieces with a diameter of 150mm in the most diverse shapes and materials. Equipped with six, twelve or eighteen spindles and four polishing, brushing and deburring units, it allows continuous or indexed work. Wear compensation and repositioning of units during recipe changes are provided by a Siemens PLC. It should also be noted that the engineering of this machine is 100% Swiss, while assembly and manufacturing are carried out in Italy.
New automation department To meet a growing number of customer requests, Récomatic has set up a team specialized in the automation of Reco and Bula machines. It is currently working with Fanuc orders but hopes to eventually be able to open up to other suppliers. The Poligo range can be equipped with an automated Recomatic Group cell. The company has already been entrusted with around ten automation mandates. "Having only one contact capable of delivering a turnkey solution is increasingly sought after by customers," concludes Christophe Rérat.
